City Lit Art School — Art Classes in London
Explore new and exciting subjects within a range of art and design disciplines, develop your skill set, get the support required to change career or launch yourself as a freelance artist or designer. All this and more delivered through our practical and engaging art and design courses at City Lit.
Our range of part-time, weekend and evening art and design classes are taught by successful artists and practitioners to ensure you get the skills, knowledge and experience you want and deserve. From experimental painting and drawing to contemporary jewellery making, there is sure to be a course for you. Study from 1 day to 2 years, whether you are a complete beginner or a practising artist preparing for an MA. Our courses are designed with you in mind, so you get to spend more time doing what you love.
Set a new goal, start your next creative adventure with City Lit and let us support you to realise your ambitions.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
Any questions? Contact our visual arts team on visual.arts@citylit.ac.uk
- Developing watercolour painting
Course start date: Tue 24 Feb 2026 (and 10 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterExplore the specific qualities of watercolour and the opportunities this adaptable medium offers to create dynamic painting compositions. Develop a fluency with brush work and layering of colour to develop compositional possibilities.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Creative image editing with Photoshop and Lightroom Course start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Michael HardingLearn how to use and apply the key features of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to develop your image editing skills.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Art and creative thinking with Rod Judkins Course start date: Sun 18 May 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rod JudkinsArt is fundamentally about communicating ideas. If the idea is strong, the work of art is memorable.
This exciting, one day workshop, led by Rod Judkins (artist, tutor and author of ‘The art of Creative thinking’ and ‘Ideas are your only currency’) will explore methods to create ideas and concepts and combine them with the process of making. You will receive a signed copy of Art and Creative Thinking when you attend this course.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Photography for beginners Course start date: Tue 3 Feb 2026 (and 17 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sara Leigh LewisAlways wondered what half the buttons on your camera actually do? Discover how to use them properly and produce impressive photographs, even as a complete beginner. Gain useful technical knowledge and get expert creative guidance in easy-to-understand language. An ideal first step before enrolling on our intermediate courses.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Contemporary watercolour painting projects Course start date: Mon 2 Feb 2026 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterThrough a set of short projects inspired by contemporary practitioners and their contribution to the uniqueness of the medium, the course will help you expand your understanding of watercolour and enable you to make informed choices in making personal work. It will also feature some approaches to painting, beyond the immediate western tradition to provide broader technical and critical insights.Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00 - Photography studio lighting Course start date: Wed 2 Jul 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Ed GregoryLearn about photographic studio practice and lighting. An introduction to using studio flash, 'hot' (tungsten) and ‘cold’ (fluorescent & LED) lights to enhance your portrait and still life photography.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Explore printmaking Course start date: Wed 30 Jul 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeCome and get inky with this fun one day workshop exploring printmaking. This course will give you a basic understanding of monoprinting, relief printing and screen printing and is aimed at those who would like to explore different printmaking techniques before going on to other courses.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00 - Processing black and white photographic film Course start date: Fri 19 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Catriona GrayShoot a roll of black and white film and develop it in traditional chemicals, learning 2 ways to view the images on your film (analogue and digital)
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Fashion and editorial photography Course start date: Wed 25 Feb 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ed GregoryThis course will help you to develop your skills in editorial fashion photography.
The course is project driven and will take you from the creation of a basic story board through to a photo shoot. By the end of the course you will understand the workflow, the tools and thinking / planning required to run a successful shoot for yourself. The course also provides advice on getting material published.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Explore: Gel plate printing Course start date: Sun 23 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This one-day course is an introduction to Gel Plate Printing and will explore various techniques to mark-making and image creation. You will learn how this print technique can be used within your own Illustration and Graphic Design projects.
Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00 - Explore: Gel plate printingCourse start date: Sun 23 Nov 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This one-day course is an introduction to Gel Plate Printing and will explore various techniques to mark-making and image creation. You will learn how this print technique can be used within your own Illustration and Graphic Design projects.
Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00 - Ways into abstract painting 2Course start date: Tue 10 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenA follow-on course from Ways Into Abstract Painting. Explore colour, scale and mark-making in more depth to get the best out of your compositional ideas. Build skills in paint-handling, personal methods of developing abstract imagery, and confidence in discussing your work and themes.
Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Art and Ideas: What is visual language? Course start date: Thu 19 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Online
This course is for students and creative practitioners interested in visual language as a creative and conceptual theme. Explore and discuss ideas, theories and work by significant artists and writers to enhance and inspire the development of creative work and build an understanding of your own visual language.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £139.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list